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DST Sleepers (1 Viewer)

B

Boccioni

Footballguy
Hi everyone,

For those of us in leagues with settings that produce larger than usual DST scores, such that the DST position is unusually significant, the preseason can be instructive.  

It feels like each year, there is a sleeper DST or two that distinguishes itself with stout team defense when the first team is in, and is able to carry the performance through the regular season.  

And so I wanted to start a conversation about defenses that have looked good so far.  

The Vikings wrecked havoc against the Seahawks, the Eagles have only let up 9 points overall, and the Bills have seemed stout.  Any other options leap out to folks? 

 
Curious about this as well.  Agree with the 3 you have mentioned.  Have heard Oakland and Jax referenced as well with some of the young studs they have drafted.

 
DEEP, deep sleeper, San Fran. They have talent and will be on the field a lot to make plays. Probably won't hold teams to low scores or shut outs, but the potential is there for sacks, takeaways and D scores. They have some talent there and during Chips time in Philly their D scored well fantasy wise. 

 
Interested in the VIkings, but I wonder if you'd have to committee them. Their schedule may not look so bad based on 2015, but Rodgers has Nelson back, Luck is healthy and Cutler has a healthy Alshon and White. I'd also say a healthy Dez/Romo, but you never know although they do have Elliot now and Prescott appears to be a better backup. Their schedule is now a 1st place schedule (add Carolina and Arizona) and their "easier" ones have gotten better with health (GB, Chicago, Indy and Dallas).

 
I'm thinking the Lions could be a sneaky good play. They were dominant two years ago, and while they obviously lost Suh, they do have Levy back this year. And Austin is a great DC.

I wouldn't draft them, though, since they open against Indy.

 
Don't sleep on the Oakland Raiders D/ST.

Provided Reggie Nelson gets on the field for week 1 (been battling a sore knee) and their rookie DB is as good as expected, that should give the DLine a little more time. And even a split second more time for Mack is going to be brutal on opposing QBs. 

I expect a top 7 D/ST scoring unit out of the Raiders this year.  Arguably "below average" for a 12 team league, but they should produce very solid numbers and will be available much later than the D/STs who will score comparably. 

 
i've already drafted and took jax late

however, they play gb wk 1 and i'm already looking for a streamer.  thinking bears @hou, who have olinemen dropping like flies and osweilers 1st game

 
Following up on some of the teams mentioned in this thread:

The Eagles first team defense was lights out all three games, including today, when they let up only three points in the first half and harassed Luck with three first half sacks.  The Eagles now have a total of ten takeaways across the three preseason games.

The Bills looked strong through most of the preseason, although the Redskins opened up on them in the second quarter.

Raiders and Jaguars defenses have been unremarkable in the early parts of games.  Oakland gave up 20 points to the Titans in the first half.

Again, preseason performance obviously isn’t everything, but to the extent we are looking for sleeper defenses that have cohered, the Eagles seem to leap to the top of the list.

Will be interesting to see the Jags tomorrow.

 
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Boccioni said:
Raiders and Jaguars defenses have been unremarkable in the early parts of games.  Oakland gave up 20 points to the Titans in the first half.
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Yeah, I rescind my "Raiders sleeper D/ST" comment. I watched much of that 1st half - they played like hot garbage. 

 
xenith said:
i've already drafted and took jax late

however, they play gb wk 1 and i'm already looking for a streamer.  thinking bears @hou, who have olinemen dropping like flies and osweilers 1st game
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nevermind, the bears suck.  also texans looked pretty good

deciding b/n tampa and detroit week1, and really only swinging for the sacks/turnovers vs ryan and luck.

 
Run It Up said:
Jags and Pats imo
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I agree with you on the Pats.  I grabbed them in my draft last night and was feeling good until I saw that they played Arizona week 1. I generally stream defenses so I'm a bit torn.   Palmer can sometimes be turnover prone--so I'm thinking I might just roll the dice and go with the Pats and see how they look.  

 
Packers are going undrafted in many leagues. They turned into an elite squad at the end of 2014, top 10 in most categories in 2015, and are now healthy with more top draft picks on defense than almost any other team (last five first round picks were defense).  From top to bottom they have arguably the top secondary in football and now finally have some meat inside (drafted Martinez, Barrington off IR) so that Matthews can reign on the outside.  They have the talent to be a special unit this year. Add to this the fact that the schedule is relatively easy and the offense has to be better than last year (which will take more pressure off) I think they are being grossly undervalued. Both in real terms and fantasy terms, barring injury, I see them as a lock to be a top 5 unit.

The preseason shouldn't be used to extrapolate much but it is mildly noteworthy the first-team Packers have allowed both the fewest points and fewest yards of any other first-team unit. Take that with a huge grain of salt though because the team that allowed the MOST points so far is the Cardinals (and they're one of the better defensive units).

 
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Boccioni said:
Following up on some of the teams mentioned in this thread:

The Eagles first team defense was lights out all three games, including today, when they let up only three points in the first half and harassed Luck with three first half sacks.  The Eagles now have a total of ten takeaways across the three preseason games.

The Bills looked strong through most of the preseason, although the Redskins opened up on them in the second quarter.

Raiders and Jaguars defenses have been unremarkable in the early parts of games.  Oakland gave up 20 points to the Titans in the first half.

Again, preseason performance obviously isn’t everything, but to the extent we are looking for sleeper defenses that have cohered, the Eagles seem to leap to the top of the list.

Will be interesting to see the Jags tomorrow.
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The preseason is very, very little.  

 
massraider said:
The preseason is very, very little.  
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It is, but last night even without Eifert and some OL, along with Green out for a couple series, Cincy moved the ball with no issue at all against the Jags. Maybe they improve, but the Jags D looked really bad.

 
stbugs said:
Interested in the VIkings, but I wonder if you'd have to committee them. Their schedule may not look so bad based on 2015, but Rodgers has Nelson back, Luck is healthy and Cutler has a healthy Alshon and White. I'd also say a healthy Dez/Romo, but you never know although they do have Elliot now and Prescott appears to be a better backup. Their schedule is now a 1st place schedule (add Carolina and Arizona) and their "easier" ones have gotten better with health (GB, Chicago, Indy and Dallas).
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I grabbed the Vikings, but I will definitely streaming some weeks. LOL at a healthy Romo in my previous post.

 
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I'd like to change my answer to "whomever is playing the Browns"

5 sacks in less than a half of play, RGIII's history of holding the ball just a little too long and questionable decision making - Gordon bailed him out in that last preseason game, but 6 times out of 10, that's an interception (8/10 the penalty gets called too) - I'm considering grabbing the Bills as a 2nd D/ST next weekend in my final draft because they play the Browns in week 15 (playoffs). 

It's too bad SD isn't an above average defense, as they travel to CLE for the week 16 game. 

 
stbugs said:
It is, but last night even without Eifert and some OL, along with Green out for a couple series, Cincy moved the ball with no issue at all against the Jags. Maybe they improve, but the Jags D looked really bad.
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I'm not making a defense of the Jags defense as a DST option this year.  I thought that they were hyped waaay too much post-FA and post-draft.  They were terrible last year, they could improve to slightly below average this year, which would be massive for them, and still not help owners.  I happen to think their defense will perform a bit like OAK last year, slow start, and then improve as season wears on.  They have a TON of new faces, expecting them to look like a top 10 defense right off the bat was spring hype that I thought was a bit silly.  

I'm pointing out that the preseason means little in terms of how teams look, especially collectively.  Preseason is fun to watch individual players, IMO.  I wanna see the rookies, I wanna see Tajae Sharpe, I wanna see Derrick Henry, and Zeke, etc.  

We have all the evidence anyone could want that judging teams as a whole from preseason is a mistake, but people make it every year.  

 
massraider said:
I'm not making a defense of the Jags defense as a DST option this year.  I thought that they were hyped waaay too much post-FA and post-draft.  They were terrible last year, they could improve to slightly below average this year, which would be massive for them, and still not help owners.  I happen to think their defense will perform a bit like OAK last year, slow start, and then improve as season wears on.  They have a TON of new faces, expecting them to look like a top 10 defense right off the bat was spring hype that I thought was a bit silly.  

I'm pointing out that the preseason means little in terms of how teams look, especially collectively.  Preseason is fun to watch individual players, IMO.  I wanna see the rookies, I wanna see Tajae Sharpe, I wanna see Derrick Henry, and Zeke, etc.  

We have all the evidence anyone could want that judging teams as a whole from preseason is a mistake, but people make it every year.  
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Less directed at you, but just an FYI, that sometimes the pre-season does show a lot. It wasn't just scheme, the Bengals just plain out muscled them. That IMHO, shows something. I mentioned them as they were mentioned earlier and they were drafted in my draft yesterday.

 
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Had my draft last night and took buffalo and philly.  Felt good.  Then realized I forgot to draft a kicker.  Have to drop one of them or a player (and I like all of my players too much to do that!). 

So I think I'm gonna drop buffalo BC I just have a feeling that the Jim Schwartz philly d is gonna create some sick havoc throughout the league this year. 

 
I followed FBG's Def by commitee and went with Giant and Bears:

Week 1: at Houston Texans (241.8) Week 2: Philadelphia Eagles (219.6)Week 3: Washington Redskins (232.9)Week 4: Detroit Lions (228.0)Week 5: at Indianapolis Colts (250.4)Week 6: Jacksonville Jaguars (228.5)Week 7: Los Angeles Rams (219.9)Week 8: Minnesota Vikings (234.6)Week 9: Philadelphia Eagles (219.6)Week 10: Cincinnati Bengals (246.3)Week 11: Chicago Bears (235.7)Week 12: Tennessee Titans (216.7)Week 13: San Francisco 49ers (223.8)Week 14: at Detroit Lions (234.0)Week 15: Detroit Lions (228.0)Week 16: at Philadelphia Eagles (225.6)

 
Eagles, Raiders and Packers are the defenses I targeted late in drafts. Generally couldn't get the Eagles as they typically went higher than they should have (based on ADP.) Have a lot of Raiders across my teams. Was able to pair Raiders/Packers in one league.

 
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